1And Rehoboam went to Shechem: for all Israel were
come to Shechem to make him king. 2And it came to pass,
when Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard of it (for he was yet in Egypt,
whither he had fled from the presence of king Solomon, and Jeroboam
dwelt in Egypt, 3and they sent and called him), that
Jeroboam and all the assembly of Israel came, and spake unto
Rehoboam, saying, 4Thy father made our yoke grievous:
now therefore make thou the grievous service of thy father, and his
heavy yoke which he put upon us, lighter, and we will serve thee.
5And he said unto them, Depart yet for three days, then
come again to me. And the people departed.

6And king
Rehoboam took counsel with the old men, that had stood before
Solomon his father while he yet lived, saying, What counsel give ye
me to return answer to this people? 7And they spake unto
him, saying, If thou wilt be a servant unto this people this day,
and wilt serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to them,
then they will be thy servants for ever. 8But he forsook
the counsel of the old men which they had given him, and took
counsel with the young men that were grown up with him, that stood
before him. 9And he said unto them, What counsel give
ye, that we may return answer to this people, who have spoken to me,
saying, Make the yoke that thy father did put upon us lighter?
10And the young men that were grown up with him spake unto
him, saying, Thus shalt thou say unto this people that spake unto
thee, saying, Thy father made our yoke heavy, but make thou it
lighter unto us; thus shalt thou speak unto them, My little finger
is thicker than my father's loins. 11And now whereas my
father did lade you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke: my
father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with
scorpions.

12So Jeroboam and all the people came to
Rehoboam the third day, as the king bade, saying, Come to me again
the third day. 13And the king answered the people
roughly, and forsook the counsel of the old men which they had given
him, 14and spake to them after the counsel of the young
men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your
yoke: my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you
with scorpions. 15So the king hearkened not unto the
people; for it was a thing brought about of Jehovah, that he might
establish his word, which Jehovah spake by Ahijah the Shilonite to
Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

16And when all Israel saw
that the king hearkened not unto them, the people answered the king,
saying, What portion have we in David? neither have we inheritance
in the son of Jesse: to your tents, O Israel: now see to thine own
house, David. So Israel departed unto their tents. 17But
as for the children of Israel that dwelt in the cities of Judah,
Rehoboam reigned over them. 18Then king Rehoboam sent
Adoram, who was over the men subject to taskwork; and all Israel
stoned him to death with stones. And king Rehoboam made speed to get
him up to his chariot, to flee to Jerusalem. 19So Israel
rebelled against the house of David unto this day. 20And
it came to pass, when all Israel heard that Jeroboam was returned,
that they sent and called him unto the congregation, and made him
king over all Israel: there was none that followed the house of
David, but the tribe of Judah only.

21And when Rehoboam
was come to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah, and the
tribe of Benjamin, a hundred and fourscore thousand chosen men, that
were warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, to bring the
kingdom again to Rehoboam the son of Solomon. 22But the
word of God came unto Shemaiah the man of God, saying, 23Speak unto Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and unto all
the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people,
saying, 24Thus saith Jehovah, Ye shall not go up, nor
fight against your brethren the children of Israel: return every man
to his house; for this thing is of me. So they hearkened unto the
word of Jehovah, and returned and went their way, according to the
word of Jehovah.

25Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the
hill-country of Ephraim, and dwelt therein; and he went out from
thence, and built Penuel. 26And Jeroboam said in his
heart, Now will the kingdom return to the house of David: 27if this people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of Jehovah at
Jerusalem, then will the heart of this people turn again unto their
lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah; and they will kill me, and
return to Rehoboam king of Judah. 28Whereupon the king
took counsel, and made two calves of gold; and he said unto them, It
is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O
Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. 29And he set the one in Beth-el, and the other put he in Dan. 30And this thing became a sin; for the people went to worship before
the one, even unto Dan. 31And he made houses of high
places, and made priests from among all the people, that were not of
the sons of Levi. 32And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the
eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast
that is in Judah, and he went up unto the altar; so did he in
Beth-el, sacrificing unto the calves that he had made: and he placed
in Beth-el the priests of the high places that he had made. 33And he went up unto the altar which he had made in Beth-el on the
fifteenth day in the eighth month, even in the month which he had
devised of his own heart: and he ordained a feast for the children
of Israel, and went up unto the altar, to burn incense.

13 1 Kings 13

1And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by
the word of Jehovah unto Beth-el: and Jeroboam was standing by the
altar to burn incense. 2And he cried against the altar
by the word of Jehovah, and said, O altar, altar, thus saith
Jehovah: Behold, a son shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah
by name; and upon thee shall he sacrifice the priests of the high
places that burn incense upon thee, and men's bones shall they burn
upon thee. 3And he gave a sign the same day, saying,
This is the sign which Jehovah hath spoken: Behold, the altar shall
be rent, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out. 4And it came to pass, when the king heard the saying of the man of
God, which he cried against the altar in Beth-el, that Jeroboam put
forth his hand from the altar, saying, Lay hold on him. And his
hand, which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not
draw it back again to him. 5The altar also was rent, and
the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the
man of God had given by the word of Jehovah. 6And the
king answered and said unto the man of God, Entreat now the favor of
Jehovah thy God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored me
again. And the man of God entreated Jehovah, and the king's hand was
restored him again, and became as it was before. 7And
the king said unto the man of God, Come home with me, and refresh
thyself, and I will give thee a reward. 8And the man of
God said unto the king, If thou wilt give me half thy house, I will
not go in with thee, neither will I eat bread nor drink water in
this place; 9for so was it charged me by the word of
Jehovah, saying, Thou shalt eat no bread, nor drink water, neither
return by the way that thou camest. 10So he went another
way, and returned not by the way that he came to Beth-el.

11Now there dwelt an old prophet in Beth-el; and one of his sons came
and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in
Beth-el: the words which he had spoken unto the king, them also they
told unto their father. 12And their father said unto
them, What way went he? Now his sons had seen what way the man of
God went, that came from Judah. 13And he said unto his
sons, Saddle me the ass. So they saddled him the ass; and he rode
thereon. 14And he went after the man of God, and found
him sitting under an oak; and he said unto him, Art thou the man of
God that camest from Judah? And he said, I am. 15Then he
said unto him, Come home with me, and eat bread. 16And
he said, I may not return with thee, nor go in with thee; neither
will I eat bread nor drink water with thee in this place: 17for it was said to me by the word of Jehovah, Thou shalt eat no
bread nor drink water there, nor turn again to go by the way that
thou camest. 18And he said unto him, I also am a prophet
as thou art; and an angel spake unto me by the word of Jehovah,
saying, Bring him back with thee into thy house, that he may eat
bread and drink water. But he lied unto him. 19So he
went back with him, and did eat bread in his house, and drank water.

20And it came to pass, as they sat at the table, that
the word of Jehovah came unto the prophet that brought him back;
21and he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah,
saying, Thus saith Jehovah, Forasmuch as thou hast been disobedient
unto the mouth of Jehovah, and hast not kept the commandment which
Jehovah thy God commanded thee, 22but camest back, and
hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place of which he said to
thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water; thy body shall not come unto
the sepulchre of thy fathers. 23And it came to pass,
after he had eaten bread, and after he had drunk, that he saddled
for him the ass, to wit, for the prophet whom he had brought back.
24And when he was gone, a lion met him by the way, and
slew him: and his body was cast in the way, and the ass stood by it;
the lion also stood by the body. 25And, behold, men
passed by, and saw the body cast in the way, and the lion standing
by the body; and they came and told it in the city where the old
prophet dwelt.

26And when the prophet that brought him
back from the way heard thereof, he said, It is the man of God, who
was disobedient unto the mouth of Jehovah: therefore Jehovah hath
delivered him unto the lion, which hath torn him, and slain him,
according to the word of Jehovah, which he spake unto him. 27And he spake to his sons, saying, Saddle me the ass. And they
saddled it. 28And he went and found his body cast in the
way, and the ass and the lion standing by the body: the lion had not
eaten the body, nor torn the ass. 29And the prophet took
up the body of the man of God, and laid it upon the ass, and brought
it back; and he came to the city of the old prophet, to mourn, and
to bury him. 30And he laid his body in his own grave;
and they mourned over him, saying, Alas, my brother! 31And it came to pass, after he had buried him, that he spake to his
sons, saying, When I am dead, then bury me in the sepulchre wherein
the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones. 32For the saying which he cried by the word of Jehovah against the
altar in Beth-el, and against all the houses of the high places
which are in the cities of Samaria, shall surely come to pass.

33After this thing Jeroboam returned not from his evil way,
but made again from among all the people priests of the high places:
whosoever would, he consecrated him, that there might be priests of
the high places. 34And this thing became sin unto the
house of Jeroboam, even to cut it off, and to destroy it from off
the face of the earth.

The Holy
Bible, American Standard Version - First published in the year of
our Lord (Anno Domini) AD 1901, by Thomas Nelson & Sons, Publishers.
Also called the Standard American Edition - Revised Version.www.BibleABC.net